


better off as lovers and not the other way around

by celeste9



Series: Superheroes [2]
Category: Primeval
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F, First Time, Workplace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-24
Updated: 2013-10-24
Packaged: 2017-12-30 09:08:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1016762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caroline is a semi-reformed super villains' minion. Lorraine wishes she found that to be more of a drawback.</p>
            </blockquote>





	better off as lovers and not the other way around

**Author's Note:**

> Inadvertently inspired by rain_sleet_snow's comment on 'The Hero of This Story'. Beta by fredbassett. Filling squares for both Trope Bingo (free space- au:other) and Ladies Bingo (minor characters). Title from Fall Out Boy, 'Bang the Doldrums'.

“Well,” Caroline said, stretching her arms overhead.

“Yes,” Lorraine said, trying not to stare too overtly. Caroline was laid out on the sheets, dark curls in a halo around her head and skin begging to be licked. Well, licked again.

_ Get a hold of yourself,  _ Lorraine thought to herself furiously. Endorphins, that’s all it was. Fabulous sex with a gorgeous woman and now it was time to face the facts.

This was a complication and Lorraine hated complications. She liked her life to be simple and straight-forward, which probably sounded odd considering she worked at a secret (okay, not so secret any more) organization that managed a team of superheroes. Still, in spite of the fact that her days were filled with craziness, she always knew what was expected of her. She certainly always knew what to expect from her boss. Sarcasm, mostly.

Only now it appeared she had accidentally (okay, really not accidentally at all, she had definitely known what she was doing) fallen into bed with a woman who, not even two months ago, had worked for the pair of super villains dedicated to making their lives hell. Caroline was their ‘asset’, as Lester called her, like they were spies and Caroline had come over from the enemy to spill their secrets.

Which, all right, technically, she had.

Caroline slid out of bed, reaching for her bra. Lorraine couldn’t help but watch her as she collected articles of clothing from around the room (how had her shirt ended up _there?_ ) and got dressed. Caroline moved as gracefully out of bed as she did in it and it was frankly a shame she had to cover up that body at all. Part of Lorraine wanted to ask Caroline to stay, to warm her bed all night, to wake up together and have breakfast together.

Of course she didn’t say anything.

As Caroline slipped into her heels, Lorraine tugged the sheet around her chest and sat up, resting her back against the pillows. 

“I can let myself out,” Caroline said and all Lorraine could do was nod. 

This was stupid, why couldn’t she… Why had she… _Complications_ , Lorraine reminded herself. Complications were bad; simple was good.

“We should do this again sometime,” Caroline said with that saucy smile that was half the problem in the first place, that smile that made Lorraine’s legs turn to jelly.

“All right,” Lorraine said.

Damn it.

-

No one was allowed to see Leek alone. He was kept in a cell, constantly guarded by no fewer than two people at all times, the walls between them thick. They all knew what he could do. Lester took no chances.

He didn’t talk much. Well, that was a lie. He talked all the time, oozing false bravado to hide how his hands shook with anxiety. He just never said anything they could actually use. For all Helen had left him to be captured, he was surprisingly loyal to her. 

“Or she never told him anything,” Lester commented. “Look at him. Would you have trusted him with anything important?”

Ryan peered in at Leek through the one-way mirror Lester had recently splashed out on. “I doubt they ever trusted each other.”

“A marriage of convenience?”

“Something like that.”

“Then what good does it do us?” Becker asked, frowning. He was oddly fidgety, his frustration evident in every line of his body.

Abby had told Lorraine what Leek had done to Becker in that old MOD building. She felt he was certainly allowed to be anxious. She also felt that, though he was still the newbie, relatively speaking, he might actually hate Leek more than any of them.

“What if I tried?” Loraine volunteered. She had been sitting in to take notes on anything Leek said and now found herself the centre of attention. “When you put him back in his cell. He wouldn’t even know I was there.”

“That sounds risky to me,” Ryan said skeptically. “I don’t see how putting you in danger for the slimmest of chances is worthwhile at all.”

But Lester was considering it, she could tell by his face. “You think he spends a lot of time talking to himself, Ms Wickes? Actually, that wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.”

“I can take care of myself,” Lorraine said, glancing at Ryan, who had the grace to look somewhat apologetic. “I don’t mind the risk, but honestly, I can’t imagine how he would ever know he wasn’t alone.”

“We’ll be able to monitor her on the CCTV and she can wear one of the headsets,” Becker suggested. “We would know immediately if she was in trouble.”

Lorraine nodded at him, grateful for the support, even if she knew it was unlikely to have anything to do with her. He just wanted what had happened to have been worth something.

“Why don’t we simply wire his cell for sound?” Ryan was always sensible. Lorraine knew it wasn’t a slur on her capabilities, not really; he simply liked to look at all angles and take the safest, most practical option.

“Because he knows to look for that,” Lester said. “We don’t exactly have top-line equipment.”

Though that was something Lester was working on, Lorraine knew. He wasn’t above using their newfound celebrity to his advantage. Unfortunately, the media and, thus, the public, couldn’t seem to agree on whether the ARC was a good thing or not, which put their standing with the government on tenuous ground.

“If Lorraine feels comfortable doing it, I think we should let her. It’s worth a shot,” Becker said, very reasonably, though the way he stared at Leek through the glass was anything but.

“I’m comfortable,” Lorraine said.

Half an hour later, she had been fitted with one of the radios Ryan and his men wore when they were in the field. She had a gun, too.

“Just in case,” Ryan said, and Lorraine accepted it. She knew how to use it - she had simply never had the occasion to before.

She phased out before the guards marched Leek down the corridor and then slipped in through the door to his cell, just behind him. Just like a ghost.

When Lorraine had been a girl, first working out what she could do, the invisibility thing had seemed like a brilliant trick. She could use it both to cause trouble and to get out of it, though her parents had eventually wizened to her schemes at least a little. A few years older and she’d realised the sort of terrible, terrible things she could do with it, if she’d wanted.

She hadn’t.

And then, as an awkward, shy teenager, invisibility hadn’t seemed cool at all. Not when she felt invisible all the time, even when she was flesh and blood the same as everyone else. Not when she felt gawky and ignored, not when the most use she got out of it was to fade out of sight when she heard the other girls laughing at her. The way she raised her hand all the time in class, the way she dressed, the way her hair looked, her glasses.

Lorraine learned to blend into the background, to be a non-threatening presence. She was smart and competent but she learned to never stand out. Better to be the woman no one noticed unless she wasn’t there, made visible only by her absence. She didn’t need recognition, not when she knew in her heart how good she was at what she did.

That was why Lester had plucked her out of the temp pool and never let her go. Lorraine did her job perfectly and without complaint, and that was a thing Lester appreciated. If he never said so in so many words, it didn’t matter. It was there in the way he relied on her and in the way he trusted her.

Lorraine might not have been a flashy field agent, but the ARC wouldn’t have been half as successful without her.

Now, watching Leek potter around his cell, she hoped she could use her ability to fade into the scenery once more.

-

An hour later, leaning in the corner with her arms crossed over her chest and watching while Leek read a novel, Lorraine was about ready to admit defeat. She was bored out of her mind. Leek was boring. He might be a super villain, but he was possibly the dullest man she had ever had the chance to observe.

It had seemed like such a good idea, too.

The cell door opened and Ryan and Becker both walked in.

Leek finally raised his eyes from his book. “Oh, my, what’s the occasion? I seldom warrant the presence of even one of you in my cell, let alone both. It isn’t my birthday, you know.”

“Shut up,” Becker said, while Ryan set down a tray of food on the small table against the back wall.

The door was still open behind them. Lorraine took the opportunity she knew she was supposed to take and swept through. She made herself visible again in the corridor.

A moment later, Ryan and Becker joined her, leaving two young soldiers on guard duty. 

“Anything?” Becker asked, a bit too quickly to be anything but eager.

Lorraine shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can try again.”

Becker mumbled a curse under his breath but Ryan said, “It was a long shot, anyway. Thank you for trying, but--”

“No, I want to try again,” Lorraine insisted. “Let me go back in tomorrow, for longer. It’s still worth it.”

She could tell that had Becker been the one in charge, she would have been granted immediate approval, but Ryan hesitated. “I’ll discuss it with Lester,” he said finally, and Lorraine knew that was the best she could hope for.

“Thanks,” she said.

When Lorraine got back to her desk, Caroline was sitting on the corner, her hands braced behind herself and her legs crossed. She was wearing heels, a short skirt, and a low-cut shirt, and all Lorraine could think about was that Moneypenny fantasy she might have had once. Or twice. Hell, who was counting?

“May I help you?” Lorraine asked, moving around Caroline and taking a seat, maintaining the careful illusion that she didn’t care in the slightest what Caroline was doing.

“Heard you went in to see Leek, only he didn’t know it.”

“Yes. I do work here, you know.”

“Oh, I know,” Caroline said, stretching the words into a suggestive drawl that almost made Lorraine want to blush. 

“Is there a point to you being here?” Lorraine looked up from her desk to actually focus on Caroline. Only her face. Definitely only her face.

Caroline shrugged. “I was bored. I thought I’d see if you want to go to dinner.”

“I’m working.”

“Yes, obviously. I meant later, when normal people go to dinner.”

Lorraine wasn’t blushing. She wasn’t. “Right. Of course. I’m not sure when I’ll be finished.”

Caroline slid off the desk corner, her skirt riding up slightly. “I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll come to get you at a reasonable time. Don’t worry, I can deal with Lester if he tries to cause a fuss.”

“Oh, please don’t,” Lorraine said, but Caroline wasn’t listening any more. 

As Caroline walked away, hips swaying, Lorraine reflected upon what a terrible, terrible complication this was.

-

They went for Italian. They’d split an utterly divine panna cotta with strawberries in a red wine syrup for dessert, which Caroline ate with suggestive relish. Lorraine had felt it was a sight inappropriate for children and kept hoping no one was looking. She wondered if they could get thrown out of the restaurant for indecent behaviour, even if Lorraine hadn’t done anything but stare.

She asked Caroline back for coffee. Caroline smirked and accepted the offer like it was a euphemism. Lorraine wasn’t entirely certain how she’d meant it, but she imagined the night was not going to end very innocently.

It was a lovely night out, cool and clear, and they took their time walking back to Lorraine’s flat. The breeze whipped through Caroline’s curls, knocking them into disarray, and the whole effect was incredibly charming. Lorraine couldn’t stop darting glances at her.

“So how does one end up working for super villains?” Lorraine asked.

“Answered an advert in the paper,” Caroline said with a tiny smirk.

Lorraine gave her a look.

Caroline laughed. “Okay, honestly? They found me. Helen came up to me in the street one day and said she knew what I could do, said she had a place for someone like me. I was working a crap job in retail that barely paid the rent and, I don’t know, it seemed exciting. It wasn’t like they had me doing anything really horrible.”

“But _they_ were. They were doing horrible things and they were using you to get them done, however indirectly.”

“Yeah, I realised that. And at first it was… I needed the money, and I didn’t care where it came from. I was having fun. But I guess there are things even I can’t live with.”

Caroline wasn’t a model citizen by any means but she wasn’t a bad person, either. She certainly was a better person than Caroline made herself out to be. Lorraine wondered just how far Caroline had stuck her head in the sand, and how hard it was to live with those choices. Maybe someday, she’d be able to ask.

“Now that I’ve spilled my guts, it’s your turn. How’d you get in with the heroes?” Caroline put an exaggerated, mocking emphasis on the word.

“It was Lester, actually. I was working at the Home Office when he got hold of the ARC project. He liked me, so he took me with him.”

Caroline whistled.

Lorraine knocked her shoulder against Caroline’s. “No! Oh, God, no, not like that, not ever. Lester? Really not my type. Anyway, he’s shagging Captain Ryan, so clearly I’m not his type either.”

“Lester and Ryan? No. Really? But I’m normally so good at picking up on these things. As in, I could’ve told you Becker wanted to be shagging Abby the first day I arrived.”

“Anyone would’ve spotted that, the way he was making giant puppy eyes at her when he thought no one would notice.” Everyone had noticed. Bless Becker, he was adorable. “But Lester and Ryan are different. They’re good at showing only what they want people to see.”

“I bet they have crazy awesome sex,” Caroline mused, and Lorraine shoved into her again. “What? You know they do. All that restraint waiting for a release… Plus, Ryan’s body. I wonder if his power is a help or a hindrance, though. He’d have to be so careful, but then, maybe Lester likes being manhandled. Some people do.”

Lorraine was blushing so hard she thought she might explode. She wasn’t certain she would be able to look Lester in the face tomorrow. Or ever again.

“Hey, does Lester have a power? Is that why they picked him to run the place?” 

“He does,” Lorraine said. She didn’t know if that was why he’d been chosen though - she didn’t even know if the Minister was aware of what he could do. “But he doesn’t like to broadcast it.”

“But you’ll tell me, won’t you?” Caroline touched her fingers to Lorraine’s hip as they walked.

“Perhaps if you stick around, you’ll find out for yourself,” Lorraine said, and left it at that.

Outside of Lorraine’s flat, Caroline leaned against the wall while she waited for Lorraine to unlock the door. 

“Oh, damn it,” Lorraine muttered as she rummaged through her handbag.

“Problem?”

“I’ve left my keys at the ARC.” She remembered now, she’d had to dig through her handbag in search of Ibuprofen when Lester had complained of a headache and she’d dumped the whole thing out; she must have left her keys on her desk by mistake.

“Don’t worry,” Caroline said smoothly and approached the door, pulling a couple of pins out of her hair. She bent one pin and inserted it into the lock, then proceeded to stick the other one in and jiggle it around. After a short time, there was a click and Caroline muttered a triumphant, “There!” She pulled the door open.

“That is horrifying, quite frankly,” Lorraine said. “Do I want to know where you learned that?”

“Saw it in a film once,” Caroline said flippantly, kicking her heels off and marching inside. 

“Saw it in a film once,” Lorraine repeated under her breath as she closed the door. 

The scary thing was, Caroline was likely being truthful. That was what she did - she observed and then she copied. She learned by watching and could replicate all kinds of amazing skills pretty much instantaneously. During Caroline’s first week at the ARC, Lorraine had listened to the murmurings about Caroline laying low half of Ryan’s team with a mish-mash of martial arts moves.

Then Lorraine had gone to see for herself and had watched Caroline go toe-to-toe with Captain Becker and his super-powered balance and reflexes, copying new skills even as Becker did them, until finally Ryan had called a halt to the whole thing and insisted everyone get back to work. It had been incredibly impressive. Caroline was _glorious._

It occurred to Lorraine that she might be more smitten than she cared to admit.

-

After taking a load of papers from Lester to be filed, Lorraine lingered. “Sir, I wondered whether you’d given any thought to--”

“The answer is no, Ms Wickes,” Lester said, not even granting Lorraine the courtesy of looking at her. 

Lorraine felt her jaw slacken and then said, “But--”

Lester held up a hand and Lorraine was too polite not to stop talking. “I appreciate your enthusiasm. However, I see little point to the venture and Captain Ryan agrees with me.”

“Oh, well, if _Captain Ryan_ agrees,” Lorraine said.

Lester arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow.

Lorraine swallowed back her anger. “Let me know if you’d like me to bring you a coffee, _sir_ ,” she ground out, and turned on her heel, sweeping out of the room.

-

“It’s infuriating!” Lorraine said.

“Yes, he’s a terrible, cruel man keeping you down,” Caroline agreed, refilling Lorraine’s wine glass.

Lorraine wasn’t sure precisely how this had happened. She’d just been so _angry,_ and Caroline had been there, and Caroline didn’t like anyone at the ARC so she was good to vent at, and now here they were, on Lorraine’s sofa, working their way through the only good bottle of wine Lorraine possessed. 

She had some bad wine, though. She suspected they’d get through that as well.

“They think I’m just a sodding PA, but I have a power too, and I’m _good_ at it, I’m not afraid to help. They just won’t let me try.”

Caroline nodded as though she understood perfectly. Lorraine suspected she was only being humoured. “They’re bastards. I might have hated the bitch, but at least Helen knew how to make use of people.”

“I am useful,” Lorraine said, staring into her glass. “I am.”

“Of course you are. It’s just that they only want you to be useful in ways they choose.”

“I could be a field agent too, you know. I could be one if I wanted to be. I know how to shoot and my power’s just as good as any of theirs.”

“Yes, but why go to all that trouble? Leave the dirty work to the soldiers,” Caroline said with a tiny sneer. 

“I’m not afraid of getting my hands dirty,” Lorraine said, pushing herself back and away from Caroline. “That isn’t it at all.”

“No need to get defensive. I only meant that I know if I had the choice, I’d prefer to be useful somewhere that doesn’t necessitate worrying about being killed.”

“Well, I’m not like you.”

“Then stop complaining about how unfair it all is and make Lester listen to you.”

Lorraine blinked. She was beginning to think she’d had too much wine far too quickly. “What?”

“You want to be in the field? Then go in the field.”

“It doesn’t work like that here.”

Caroline shrugged. “Now that sounds like an excuse.”

“I don’t even _want_ to be a field agent, not really,” Lorraine admitted. “I just want to have the same opportunities they have. I want Lester and Ryan to believe it when I say I can help; I want them to stop trying to protect me because I don’t go out on shouts like… like Abby does, or Stephen or Sarah or the rest. I’m tired of them not respecting me just because I haven’t got myself blown up.” Stephen got blown up. Almost. He was a hero.

“Maybe you should say that to someone besides me. Someone who will actually give a damn, and possibly be able to do something about it.”

“You’re not a very nice person, you know,” Lorraine told Caroline, the statement seeming to hold a lot of weight suddenly. Probably on account of the drinking. 

“Doesn’t seem to bother you much,” Caroline said, stretching languorously against the sofa cushions, revealing a sliver of dark skin on her belly as her shirt rode up.

That was the problem, Lorraine thought. It didn’t bother her at all.

-

Lorraine generally considered eavesdropping to be beneath her, despite the ease with which she could do it. Still, everyone occasionally stumbled onto a conversation they couldn’t help but listen to. Right? 

“I don’t know why Lester’s letting her hang around still,” someone was saying, the even, cultured tones revealing the speaker to be Becker. “She hasn’t been able to tell us anything of use in weeks, and besides, we’ve got Leek now.”

“Why keep the minion when you’ve got the boss? Even if he is a bloody pain in the arse.” Rough, Cockney, and clearly Danny. 

They should go back to constantly bickering instead of constantly bickering but actually liking each other, Lorraine decided. What did they know about it? Nothing, nothing at all, and they should just be quiet.

“Exactly,” Becker said, and fuck this, they were agreeing with each other. 

Lorraine had heard enough. She marched into the break room with her chin held high and the conversation abruptly died.

Becker looked vaguely guilty but Danny was simply leaning back in his chair like he hadn’t a care in the world. Lorraine wished he’d topple backwards.

“Good afternoon,” Lorraine said, nodding at them and getting water for her tea.

“Afternoon,” Becker murmured, reminding her of a schoolboy who wasn’t certain if he was in trouble or not yet.

Danny, on the other hand, was watching her firmly and said, “We were just talking about your new friend Caroline.”

There was a small noise and then Danny’s chair legs landed back on the floor with a thud. He winced and made a face at Becker.

Lorraine assumed Becker had just kicked him under the table. She felt oddly grateful. “Caroline has been nothing but an asset since she arrived here.”

“Right.” Danny sounded unconvinced.

“Everyone deserves a second chance,” Lorraine said, holding Danny’s eyes for a fair few seconds before she retreated, leaving her tea unmade. 

Shortly afterwards Lorraine marched into Lester’s office and said, “Why don’t you let Caroline speak to Leek?”

Lester gazed at her, his arms folded on top of his desk. “Because it’s a terrible idea?”

“It isn’t. Caroline _knows_ him. She knows him better than any of us and if anyone can get him to talk, it’s her.”

“Why would she?”

“Because she’s with us now.”

“She’s here, I’ll give you that, but she isn’t one of us.”

“Perhaps if you’d give her a chance, you’d discover otherwise,” Lorraine said, and walked out. She had made her point and she knew the best thing to do was let Lester have the time to think about it. He wouldn’t appreciate being pressured, but he would consider all options presented to him in a reasonable manner.

No one knew Lester like Lorraine did.

-

“Do you want to be here?” Lorraine asked, tracing her fingers over the smooth skin of Caroline’s back.

Caroline turned her head on the pillow so that her dark eyes were focused on Lorraine. “I should think that’s obvious.”

“No, I meant… Do you want to be at the ARC? I know you only turned yourself in for protection. I just wondered whether you actually want to stay.”

“I’ll stay for you,” Caroline murmured in a low voice, effortlessly sexy. “That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

It was probably sad how much Lorraine did want that, but it meant nothing if it, well, if it meant nothing to Caroline. “I want you to be honest.”

“Not much good at that. Semi-reformed villain, remember?”

Lorraine huffed and rolled onto her back, drawing away from Caroline. “I’ve stuck my neck out for you, you know. I just wish I knew if it was worth the bother.”

“I never asked you to do that.”

“You didn’t have to. I _wanted_ to, because I like you, God help me. Just tell me if I’m wasting my time. If you’re just going to leave, then I…” Lorraine stared at the ceiling, chewing on her lip.

Caroline pushed herself up and hovered over Lorraine, forcing Lorraine’s gaze. “Here’s the thing. I’m not so good at this, this… this romance thing, or even this friendship thing. No one ever really gave a shit about me so I learned not to give a shit in return.”

Lorraine was starting to feel like this was a foregone conclusion. She wished she’d had this conversation before pressing Lester.

But Caroline wasn’t done. “But you? It’s… it’s kind of nice knowing that you care. I’m not entirely certain why you do, but I’ll settle for just being grateful and accepting it. Sometimes I think maybe I can be better, because of you.”

“So…” Lorraine swallowed and tried to figure out what she was hearing. “So you do want to be here? At the ARC? You genuinely want to help us?”

Caroline smiled and brought her face closer to Lorraine’s, until their mouths were just a breath apart. “Well, you know what they say about the love of a good woman…”

But whatever it was they said, Lorraine never found out. She found herself otherwise occupied.

She wasn’t complaining.

-

“Ms Wickes,” Lester said, pausing in front of Lorraine’s desk with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Sir?”

“Please ask Ms Steel to come in to see me. I have a proposition for her.” Without another word, Lester turned and strode into his office.

Lorraine beamed down at her computer.

-

Lorraine watched from behind the one-way mirror as Leek was led into the interrogation room. Lester had asked her to take notes, but Lorraine knew it had been more of a courtesy extended, an invitation. A chance to see if this would be worth anything, or whether it would blow up in their faces.

Claudia was standing beside her, arms folded over her chest. “It was a good idea,” she said.

“Do you think so?”

“Yes. It was smart, to use the advantages we have and not be clouded by prior… prejudices.”

“I know they’re all expecting this to go horrendously wrong,” Lorraine said, straightening her back to keep from letting her shoulders slump.

“Maybe, and maybe it will. But don’t you think it’s worth trying?”

“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I didn’t.”

Claudia smiled at her. “Anyway, I don’t think it will go wrong. I think… I think Caroline may just surprise us.”

Lorraine focused back on Leek. Caroline had been surprising her since the moment she first set foot in the ARC.

Lester and Ryan walked in to the interrogation room from the door in the corner that led in from the corridor. Ryan stayed standing in front of it, his hand resting casually on his holstered gun, but Lester kept walking until he was in front of the table where Leek was seated.

“Ah, Sir James Lester. It does always brighten my day to see you standing before me,” Leek said with that now familiar forced cheer. He looked pale and thin, even more so than usual. “Ready for another round of interrogations?”

“As a matter of fact, Mr Leek, I thought I’d leave the questions to someone else today.” Lester gave a small nod to Ryan, who opened the door.

Caroline sauntered in. “Hello, Oliver. Long time no see.”

Leek’s eyes had widened comically, what little colour he had in his face draining away.

“I do so like to see old friends reacquainted,” Lester commented. “I’ll give you some time to yourselves.” He stepped out, leaving Ryan where he was. 

Momentarily he joined Lorraine and Claudia to observe the proceedings from a distance. “Well, this may very well turn out to be a bloody disaster.”

“Try to be at least slightly optimistic, James,” Claudia said. “I promise you won’t break anything.”

“I don’t believe that’s a promise you can keep, Ms Brown,” Lester said, and then they all fell silent to watch Caroline and Leek. 

“I’m surprised you can show your face to me, you little traitor,” Leek was saying.

“Oh, please,” Caroline snorted. “I was only ever in it for the money and the thrill, and you know it.”

“Yes, you’ve shown your true colours quite clearly.” ‘

“At least I knew when to cut and run. Better than being abandoned.”

“You think these people are your friends now?” Leek sneered. “I’m sure they’re only waiting for you to turn on them as well.”

“I don’t care what they’re waiting for. I’m where I choose to be and that’s the only place I’ll ever be.”

“I think you went to the only people who would have you.”

“I’m not the one shitting a foot from my bed.”

“I could break you.” Leek lifted his cuffed hands. “You think this can stop me? Ask Captain Becker about what he saw the first time we met. That was nothing compared to what I could do to you.”

Caroline nonchalantly examined her nails. “I don’t think so. You see, there is a whole crowd of people out there concerned for my safety, while there isn’t a single person who gives a damn about you. You aren’t even worth the energy it takes to notice you enough to hate you.”

The effect on Leek was immediate and obvious. “Shut up, you stupid, arrogant girl! You don’t know _anything._ Helen will come for me. She’ll return from her little journey through time to discover just how exactly that idiot Cutter ruins the future and then she’s coming for me. So I wouldn’t be so full of myself if I were you.”

Lorraine’s eyes slid to Lester. He was standing still and calm, but the thin line of his mouth was curving ever so slightly upwards.

“Here’s the thing, Ollie,” Caroline said, her eyes narrowing as she focused on Leek. “She is _never_ coming for you. You might think you’re partners but I guarantee you she hasn’t given you a single thought since she turned her back on you.” She glanced to Ryan, who nodded at her. “I think we’re done here. Thanks for the heads-up.” 

“You... you _bitch!_ ” Leek shouted, springing to his feet, his face flushed an angry red.

Caroline ignored him, simply striding out the door as the guards came in at Ryan’s word to bring Leek back to his cell. She joined them in the observation room, looking something like a smug cat after a kill.

Lorraine had moved away from the one-way mirror and Caroline went straight towards her. 

“Seems to me I’ve just single-handedly discovered what Helen the bitch is up to. Do I get my reward now?” Without waiting for a response, Caroline grabbed Lorraine’s hips and yanked her forward, smacking a rather thorough kiss to her mouth.

Lorraine stood there, eyes closed, as Caroline pulled back. She licked her lips. She opened her eyes to see Caroline looking incredibly pleased with herself and then took a tiny step back, fixing her glasses. “Sorry, sir,” she said to Lester. “You’ll have to forgive Caroline her unprofessionalism. She spent too much time with super villains, you see.”

“Apparently so,” Lester said blandly. “Your assistance is appreciated, Ms Steel. Even I must admit that you played him masterfully.”

Caroline shrugged, like it was nothing. “Leek has always thought himself smarter and more impressive he actually is. Makes him an easy target.”

“Indeed. Still, you have our thanks. Ms Brown, I trust you can take it from here?”

Claudia nodded. “Leave it with me, James.”

“Very good.” Lester moved to the door. “Ms Wickes, with me. You may assist me with the write-up.”

Lorraine walked silently with Lester down the corridor to his office. She was quaking inside at the thought of what Lester might say after Caroline’s impromptu display. If possible, Lorraine would have liked to keep her... tryst? Relationship? Whatever it was, she would have liked to keep it out of the ARC. As she accepted that would likely have proved impossible, she had at least hoped not to out herself so blatantly and at such an inopportune moment.

When they reached their destination, Lester held the door open and gestured inside. “A quick moment before business, if I may, Ms Wickes.”

She walked inside and stopped in the middle of the room, facing Lester. She didn’t sit.

“You were right about Ms Steel. You have good instincts.”

Lorraine’s jaw dropped of its own accord. She closed it. Lester hadn’t said, ‘You let yourself be emotionally compromised.’ He hadn’t said, ‘How dare you play games with the safety of the ARC and leave me in the dark?’

No, he’d said, ‘You have good instincts.’

If Lorraine hadn’t been so surprised, having Lester pay her a compliment would have been tremendously gratifying. “Thank you, sir. I’m only glad I could help.”

Lester shifted his weight, his expression solemn and intent. “Ms Wickes… I know you aren’t in the easiest position here. I hope you understand how much I… I appreciate your contributions. You are always welcome to come to me, with… with anything.”

Lorraine found herself struck rather speechless. She looked at Lester and wondered how difficult it had been for him to say that. She considered how much he must mean it, as a result. “I know, sir. Thank you.”

With a brusque nod, Lester began to turn away.

Lorraine knew this was her chance. She said, “Actually, I’d like to say something now.”

“Yes?” Lester prompted, facing her again.

“It’s about Caroline. Offer her a permanent position, sir. Ask her to work for you. I believe she’ll say yes.”

“Do you really think that’s what I need? A woman ready to switch her loyalties the second she’s asked to do something she doesn’t want to?”

“She isn’t like that. She just…” Lorraine bit her lip. “Caroline is an independent thinker. She has strong opinions about what she wants.”

“Sounds like the rest of the bloody place,” Lester muttered. “I’ll grant you, she was helpful with Leek. But I don’t trust her.”

“Trust is a thing that needs to be earned. She can’t earn it if you won’t give her the opportunity.”

“And who is going to keep her in check? Tell me, who is going to ensure that Ms Steel doesn’t decide she’s tired of being good, just as she decided she was tired of being bad?”

Lorraine lifted her chin. She suspected she was all in already, so she may as well accept it. “I will, sir.”

Lester stayed quiet, carefully regarding her. Finally he nodded, turning away, and said, “Very well, Ms Wickes. On your head be it.”

Lorraine bit back the huge grin she desperately wanted to break into. “Thank you, sir.”

“I do hope you know what you’re doing.”

Somehow Lorraine knew that Lester didn’t mean it in any professional sense. He was worried about her personally; he was concerned about her in particular. She smiled at him. “Don’t I always?”

-

Caroline was in Lorraine’s flat when she got home, lounging on the sofa and generally looking like she belonged. Lorraine toed off her heels and joined her, cupping Caroline’s face and leaning in for a kiss that was rather a bit deeper than your typical welcome home kiss.

“Hello,” Caroline murmured against her mouth.

“Hi,” Lorraine said, swooping in for one more quick press of lips, and then another. “I’m keeping you, just so you know.”

“Yes, I expect you are.” Caroline’s tone was warm but not as warm as her hands on Lorraine’s hips or the thigh she was casually pressing between Lorraine’s legs.

Lorraine was keeping her and God help anyone who tried to stop her.

**_ End _ **


End file.
